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Demand is up for small retailers, but supply is another story

Sep 16, 2021
Customers are shopping at the three small retail stores we checked in with, but keeping inventory up isn't so easy.
A small-business owner works in her South Carolina retail shop in April 2020. Many small retailers have dealt with their share of pandemic-related supply chain issues.
Sean Rayford via Getty Images

Small-business owners are struggling with their supply chains. But they're more optimistic.

Sep 14, 2021
The National Federation of Independent Business reports nearly half of small businesses surveyed raised prices in August.
Supply chain hiccups are translating into higher prices at small businesses, including some stores that sell eyewear.
Philippe Huguen/AFP via Getty Images

Retailers work around supply snags to fill shelves ahead of holidays

Sep 7, 2021
Grappling with shortages as holiday shopping season approaches, merchants focus on products that are available.
The Macy's department store in Manhattan, Christmas Eve 2020. Responding to product shortages, merchants are modifying their offerings to emphasize available inventory.
Scott Heins via Getty Images

Roller-skating makes a comeback despite skate shortage

Aug 30, 2021
Most roller skates are made in overseas factories with backlogs. Interest in outdoor skating is taking customers from indoor rinks.
David Miles Jr., the self-described Godfather of Skate, has a good time in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.
Raquel Maria Dillon

Congestion at U.S. ports means there's now a shortage of shipping containers

Aug 11, 2021
The lack of available space means that if you can get a container, you'll pay more for shipping what's in it.
Morris MacMatzen via Getty Images

Supply chain hiccups are causing overstocks, not just shortages

Aug 6, 2021
Too much inventory, a headache for some retailers, can be a boon for others.
Supply chain bottlenecks have become the reality recently. While many face shortages, some businesses are benefiting from the opposite: overstock.
Chris McGrath via Getty Images

What freight rail tells us about the economy

Aug 4, 2021
Trains are delivering shipping containers brimming with the imported products consumers are demanding. Rail can tell us about U.S. exports, too.
The U.S. has seen an uptick in intermodal train traffic over the first half of the year — that's when products travel in containers from ship to truck or train.
David McNew/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

The looming tomato shortage

Aug 3, 2021
The drought in California — the country’s biggest producer — will make tomato yields short by up to 10%, possibly boosting prices.
The drought in California may reduce the state's tomato yield as much as 10%, frustrating businesses along the supply chain as well as consumers.
Spencer Platt via Getty Images

Farms don't have to be outside anymore

Aug 3, 2021
Irving Fain, CEO of Bowery Farming, hopes growing crops in warehouses near cities will increase access to fresh produce.
Bowery Farming has two vertical farms in the Northeast, with another under construction. "All of our supply chain exists in this one building," CEO Irving Fain says.
Photo courtesy Bowery Farming

Facing shortages of construction materials and labor, builders try to be flexible

Aug 2, 2021
Often that means negotiating what gets done when.
Everything from worker shortage to material prices have forced builders to adapt.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images